


Memories and Luck Woven in Rope

by Angel Ascending (angel_in_ink)



Series: The Mighty Nein Go To The Beach! (Critical Role Relationship Week 2018) [7]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: And Talking About Stuff, Beau Asks A Lot Of Questions Because She's Beau, Critical Role Relationship Week 2018, Gen, Just Two Friends Hanging Out And Making Rope Bracelets, The Things Fjord Will Do To Avoid Shopping
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-23
Updated: 2018-06-23
Packaged: 2019-05-27 09:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15021305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angel_in_ink/pseuds/Angel%20Ascending
Summary: “Hey,” Beau said. “Whatcha working on?”Fjord held up the hand that had the rope looped around it, the strands crossing over and under each other. “Making rope bracelets for everyone. Kinda a souvenir thing, I guess.”“That’s cool,” Beau said. “I didn’t realize you were, you know, crafty.”





	Memories and Luck Woven in Rope

**Author's Note:**

> There's a brief mention of something that happens in "An Anchor Against The Turning Tide," so you might want to read that before you read this if you haven't already.

It was their last full day in Nicodranas and everyone had gone into town with the exception of Beau, who had been swimming since Fjord woke up. Fjord himself had opted to stay behind with the excuse of keeping an eye on her, and Caleb had been the one who had given him a knowing look and had fended off Jester’s entreaties that Fjord come with them.

Of course, Beau’s safety hadn’t been the only reason Fjord had stayed behind. Shopping was just so _dull._ Fjord was a practical person, and to him shopping was about going to a store, getting what you needed, and leaving in as quick a time as could be managed. He loved Molly and Caleb, he truly did, but if Caleb found a bookstore he wouldn’t let himself be extricated for hours, and even then only under protest. Molly was the sort of person who could try on clothes for a seeming eternity without buying a single thing, chatting with the shopkeepers all the while. It was endearing and maddening all at once. Besides, he was working on something, had been working on something for days now in what private moments he had grabbed for himself.

The thin rope looped around Fjord’s hand was a bit smoother than he was used to, but that made it even more suited to his needs. His eyes kept flicking up to check on Beau even as he worked, the motions as familiar to him as the tune that he found himself humming, though he stopped himself from doing that once he realized. It was bad luck to sing sea shanties when you were on dry land, and all right, he was practically a stone’s throw from the ocean and he was humming instead of singing, but why chance it?

Speaking of luck, he had been hoping to finish what he had been working on before Beau got tired of swimming, but there she was, squeezing the water from her hair as she walked, then sitting down beside him in the sun.

“Hey,” Beau said. “Whatcha working on?”

Fjord held up the hand that had the rope looped around it, the strands crossing over and under each other. “Making rope bracelets for everyone. Kinda a souvenir thing, I guess.”

“That’s cool,” Beau said. “I didn’t realize you were, you know, crafty.”

Fjord shrugged and went back to working the rope. He was almost finished with this one, and then he could give it to Beau. Everyone else's were tucked away in his pack. “There’s not a lot of options for entertainment when you’re out at sea, and there was always plenty of rope around. Some of the crew would make bracelets for their families or their sweethearts back at home, to give them something to remember them by when they were back out at sea. It turned into a kind of luck thing, like a promise that the sailor _would_ come back home. When you’re at the mercy of the ocean, everything seems to revolve around bringing good luck to you and keeping bad luck away.”

“Yeah, I read a lot about that sort of thing,” Beau said. “Like how it’s bad luck to kill a dolphin, because dolphins are the souls of dead sailors or something.”

Fjord nodded, tying a final knot in the bracelet, making sure it was tight. “I knew plenty of sailors who would have starved to death before killing a dolphin for food, or an— albatross.” He had almost said mollymauk, which was a type of albatross, but had stopped himself. He wasn’t going to bring up Molly’s name and death in the same sentence if he could help it.

“You believe in luck?” Beau asked.

“I believe in not taking any chances,” Fjord said, cutting away the excess rope trailing from the knot before handing the bracelet to Beau. “Here, this one’s yours.”

Beau slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and eyed it critically. “It’s a little loose.”

“It’s supposed to be. You get it wet and it shrinks to your wrist. You have to cut it off if you ever want to stop wearing it. Or you can just wear it until the rope wears out, though that can take a long time.”

“That’s cool,” Beau said, running a thumb over the strands. Fjord expected her to go down to the water to get it wet, and was surprised when she didn’t.

“Were you wearing one of these the night your ship sank?” Beau asked.

“I was,” Fjord replied. “And I wasn’t when I woke up on shore, you know, after. Figured I caught it on something and it broke during all that.”

“Maybe the luck saved you,” Beau said thoughtfully.

“Maybe,” Fjord replied, thinking about the cold water and the taste of salt, about darkness and a single glowing eye.

“Hey, you got enough rope for one more? Could you teach me?”

Fjord found himself smiling. “Sure, I could do that.” He measured out a length of rope and cut it before handing it to her. “Now what you’re going to want to do is wrap it loosely a few times over the widest part of your hand. Then you take this end of the rope and go under here, then cross these two strands and bring the rope around this way, not too tight, because you’re going to add layers as you go around and if you make things too tight at the start the rope becomes a bitch to work with.”

Beau caught on fast, but Fjord wasn’t surprised by that. Soon she had a regular rhythm going. “You just keep that up and you’ll have another bracelet in no time.”

“You know, when I ran into you and Jester down in Trostenwald, I was on my way down to the coast. Figured I could find my way onto a ship, maybe become a sailor.”

Fjord chuckled softly. “Just think, if you had run away a few years earlier, you could have ended up on my ship. I can imagine you spending all day climbing the ropes and mouthing off to anyone who looked at you sideways. Vandren would have found you both delightful and infuriating I’m sure.”

“Was he the one who taught you how to do this?” Beau asked, indicating the bracelet that was nearly half finished.

“Yeah,” Fjord said softly, remembering the feeling of Vandren’s weathered hands on his as he had shown Fjord how to weave the rope, how patient he had been with teaching Fjord, just as he had been while teaching him everything he needed to know about working on a ship. “He was a good man. Patient. Kind. Hard sometimes, you don’t become a ship captain without becoming hard, I think. But kind. He was like a father to me.” Fjord said, then saw Beau’s fingers falter on the rope for a split second before they took up the rhythm again. “I mean—“

“It’s okay,” Beau said, even though her tone said she wasn’t. “My dad was an asshole, but that doesn’t mean no one can mention their family around me, found or otherwise. It’s fine.”

There was silence then for awhile, filled only by the sound of the ocean or the occasional seagull crying overhead. Fjord watched as Beau finished her bracelet and nodded approvingly. “You did a good job with that.”

“You think so?” Beau said, and Fjord could tell that she was trying not to show she was pleased by the praise. He expected her to try the bracelet on, and blinked in surprise when she held it out to him. “Here.”

“For me?” Fjord took the bracelet from her and worked it over his hand and onto his wrist. She had done a good job with guessing how wide to make it, once it was wet it would fit him almost perfectly.

“Well yeah,” Beau said, as if it was obvious. “You made one for everyone else and not for yourself, am I right? You need the luck just as much as the rest of us.” She shrugged. “Maybe the luck will save your life again one day, who knows?” She said the words casually, but Fjord had known Beau long enough to know that the sentiment was anything but casual. “C’mon, let’s go get these wet. I know you haven’t touched the water since we got here, but I promise to keep you from falling in.”

Fjord made himself laugh as he walked down to the water with Beau, because he hadn’t told her about his little “sleepwalking into the ocean” episode from a few nights ago. He nearly expected something to happen when he plunged his hand into the water, a vision maybe, or a voice in his head, but nothing did.

Later, whenever Fjord looked down at the bracelet on his wrist, the white strands long gone grimy with dirt and old blood, he would remember the warm sun on his skin, the smell of salt water, and the laughter and smiles of his friends.

**Author's Note:**

> And that's it for the week! I had a lot of fun (and more than a little anxiety) writing these, and I hope you enjoyed them all!
> 
> I'm angel-ascending over on Tumblr if y'all want to stop by and say hi!


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